It is known to equip agricultural round balers with load cells or other types of scales to determine the weight of the bale. The problem with all known systems is that they do not provide an accurate bale weight when the baler is sitting on an incline such as a hillside. The reason for this problem is that the load cells that are typically mounted in the hitch and/or axles, deflect in proportion to the normal force which is perpendicular to the axle. When the baler is resting on a horizontal plane, the “normal force” and the “force of gravity” are both perpendicular to the axis of the load cell. In this case, the load cells provide an accurate measurement of the bale weight. However, when the baler is paced on a hillside, the “normal force” and the “force of gravity” are not aligned i.e. the “normal force”=(force of gravity)*COS(slope angle). Because of this, the bale weight is underestimated.
While it is possible to mount an inclinometer on the baler to measure the angle of the slope to account for this effect, doing so adds extra cost and complexity into the system.
Accordingly there is a clear need in the art for a method of determining an accurate weight of an agricultural round bale regardless of the angle of inclination.